UniversityStuck!
by twistedStory1999
Summary: Nepeta Leijon is a painter, chasing after Karkat Vantas, a fellow student in college. The 2 often give opinions on each other's work, but keeps their friendship on the minimum. Nepeta is a girl who seldom talks about her past, and when she falls to a coma, Karkat finds out why.
1. Chapter 1

A classroom is filled with the scratching of pencils against paper. Heads bent over the desks, scrutinizing the owner's handiwork. Sunlight slants through the windows. A quiet afternoon of testing in the town of Annapolis, Maryland. All students were focused, except for one.

Nepeta Leijon, freshman in college, studying visual art. She wasn't much of a girl to look at. Small, with mouse-brown shoulder length hair, and olive-green eyes. Pale pink lips were always set in a small smile, and nose that was splashed with a few freckles. Another thing to be noted was a large green trench coat that she was never to be seen without. That and her blue cat hat.

On this very fine day, Nepeta was not testing. She already finished her testing of course. Actually, this wasn't even her school that she was at, oh no. Her school had sent her to a different school for a painting, a project, if you will. She was to draw a calming, but common scene, but to incorporate into the drawing, a mystery. Nepeta had many choices, but she chose this school, an acting school that was said to be haunted. She had hoped to be able to paint a calm classroom scene, but it the corner, lying in the shadows, would be a pale impression of a spirit, sad and excluded. The story that she wanted to incorporate was a girl, found dead in an empty classroom, with no lead on how she died. The investigators soon marked it as suicide, and the girl's spirit, enraged that no one would try to even find her murderer, haunted the halls of the school and forever in search for revenge against her murderer.

A drop of paint fell on Nepeta's dark painting apron. She paid no attention to it, because it fell on her apron, not on her clothes. She was trying to capture the sunlight before the sun set and she had no time to fuss over her apron.

'Now. If only that boy over there would stop moving. I can't paint him at all! He simply is so frustrating!' She fumed to herself. She had finished the sunlight, but now she was painting the students. The aforementioned boy turned his head yet again and Nepeta hit him with a small eraser. He turned towards her, frowning. He picked up the eraser and walked back to her to give it back, scowling all the way.

"Here's your fucking eraser." He hissed through his teeth. He handed her back tha eraser and was about to return to his desk when she spoke up.

"Hey, can you stop moving around in your seat? I can't paint you at all!" She whispered to him. He turned around again.

"Fine, whatever…" He grumbled. He walked to his desk and slumped into it, setting his head on his desk. Nepeta turned back to her painting and painted the boy in the empty spot on the canvas. Then, she moved to the black shadow that she had painted earlier. She picked a pale grey and painted a wispy smoke-like column in there. She made it look slightly like a girl, and then took red and painted small dots where the eyes should be. She took a step back and sighed happily. She was done! Finally.

Nepeta gathered her things and waved good-bye to the professor. She nodded her head once and smiled. Nepeta smiled as well, and walked out the classroom.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Nepeta now sat at a park bench. The sun had begun to set.

She turned her head slightly to look at the painting, protected in its covering. She blew a hair out of her face as she sighed and looked out to the street again, waiting.

'I have to be patient!' She chided herself when she considered calling him. 'He hates it when he's rushed.'

Then, she heard a shutter click, and the whine of a camera. She looked towards the sound and saw none other than Karkat Vantas. She gaped at his camera.

"KARKAT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She screeched, springing to her feet and swiping at the camera. Karkat snickered and snatched it away before she could get it.

"Taking a fucking picture, is that against the law?" He asked her, batting away her hands.

"Yes, it is! I didn't know you were taking my picture! That qualifies as stalking!" She said, still trying to get his camera.

"Sheesh, it's not like I'm going to paint it out for the whole world to see. But now that you mention it…" He smirked as he saw her look of horror. "Maybe I will…"

"You wouldn't!"

"You don't dictate what I can and can't do. If I want to paint out this picture, I will."

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaat!"

"Fine, I won't! What-fucking-ever…" He muttered. He put his camera away. "I'm keeping that picture though."

"… As long as you don't paint it out, I'll be happy." Nepeta sighed. She sat back down at the bench.

"So, let me see it, Nepeta. You were boasting so much about it on my way here, I thought my damn phone would explode from all those texts." He reached out for her canvas.

"Heehee, sorry, Karki—Karkat!" She giggled and handed her painting to him. He took it and peeled off its protective covering. She observed him as he did so.

Karkat had messy light brown hair, and red eyes. The red eyes were a result of his albinism. He was only part albino, and he was always sensitive to that fact, wearing either contacts or his glasses to draw attention away from his eyes. Nepeta always thought he looked good though, but she would never tell him that! Oh no, that would probably put a small rift in their friendship, and Nepeta would never want that! It would break her heart.

"It looks good, except I think you should have used transparent gouache and outlined it with acrylic, to make it look more… Ghostly… Fuck." Karkat yawned and Nepeta giggled.

"Tired, Karkat?" She looked at him and he scowled slightly.

"Shut up. I'm fine." Karkat yawned again. Nepeta suddenly remembered when they met. It was at this very park, to be exact.

_It was when they were both 6 years old. Nepeta's mom had taken her to the sandbox to get away from her father. She was muttering the whole way and Nepeta knew to keep to herself. She played in the corner of the large sandbox, singing a soft tune to herself and drawing in the sand with a stick. Suddenly, a shadow obscured Nepeta's sunlight. She turned around to find herself looking at a small boy with white hair and red eyes. She stared at his hair as he plopped down beside her._

_"Hi." The boy said. His voice had a slightly rough edge to it._

_"…." Nepeta didn't speak. She kept drawing in the sand. The boy scowled slightly._

_"My name's Karkat, what's yours?" He asked. Nepeta wrote her name into the sand. Karkat read it._

_"Nepeta. That's a pretty name." He said to her. She nodded and touched her index and middle fingers to her lips and pulling them away again [thank you]._

_"What was that?" Karkat asked her. She wrote into the sand, 'Sign language.'_

_"What's a language?" Karkat asked. (A/N: remember guys, they're only 6 years old!) Nepeta thought for a moment and wrote: 'It's a different way to talk to people. With a different alphabet.'_

_"Oh, like Spanish and Chinese and stuff?" a nod of confirmation from Nepeta._

_"Why do you use sign language?"_

_'Because I don't want to talk out loud because my mom might get angry at me.'_

_"Why would she be angry at you for talking?"_

_'Because she says my voice is annoying.'_

_"Oh…." Karkat fell silent for a second before asking her again, "Who taught you sign language?"_

_'My sister.'_

_"How old is she?"_

_'16.'_

_"Where is she now?"_

_'At the cemetery.'_

_"Why?"_

_'She died.'_


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting an Old Friend

Nepeta sighed. She looked around her small dorm room and started to pack all her things. She gathered her clothes and set it in a box and then gathered the rest of her things. On the other side of the room, Jade tripped over a stray plush cat of Nepeta's and fell to the ground with a _thump!_ Nepeta looked over and giggled. Jade started to giggle as well.

"Are you okay, Jade?" Nepeta asked, still smiling. Jade grinned.

"I'm perfectly fine, Nepeta! Or as you would say, purrfect!" The two girls dissolved into giggles once again.

Nepeta was moving out of her dorm, and into the comfortable condo above Jade's pet store.

"Oh, get that, Nep, before it falls!" Jade giggled, pointing at a tipping lamp, placed precariously on a pile of plushies. Nepeta sprang to her feet and picked up the lamp from the large pile. She turned around and placed the lamp in a large box with all her other assorted things.

"Well, I guess I'll carry these down, Jade!" She hefted up the heavy box and started to carry it downstairs.

After much dropping, tripping, improvising, and fussing, Jade and Nepeta finally finished moving her in. Nepeta collapsed on her new futon and sighed happily. Jade giggled and sat sown on the edge of her friend's new bed.

"Happy, Nepeta?" a muffled reply could be heard and Jade smiled. "Well, as a celebration of you moving in, how about we have sushi tonight, huh?" Nepeta sat up abruptly, surprising Jade.

"Oh, yes, please! Oh, dear—er, Jade, are you okay?" Nepeta looked down at Jade, who fell down off the futon, her glasses next to her hand.

"Oh, yeah! I'm fine! Heehee, you surprised me that's all." She giggled and stood up. Nepeta handed Jade her glasses.

"Oh, thanks, Nepeta!" Jade put on her glasses. "Okay, do you want to help me prepare the food?"

"Of course!" Nepeta linked arms with Jade and walked down to the kitchen with her.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Oh, no, Leon, come back! You can't chase those birds, no!" Nepeta picked up the small white cat. She set him back into the small bed and put down his plate of food. Leon turned his lamp-like eyes onto the plate of food and forgot all about the birds. He leaped off his bed and proceeded to devour the small dinner Nepeta gave him. He looked up at Nepeta and mewed for more.

"Oh, no, mister. You only get that much now. You're getting to be overweight, you fat kitty!" She picked up the small cat and walked over to Jade, who was cutting the hair of a teacup Pomeranian that came in that afternoon.

"Hey, Jade, can I take Leon upstairs with me?" She asked the tall girl. Jade put down her scissors and nodded. She picked up the Pomeranian and put her into the arms and put him into the arms of who Nepeta now saw was none other than the famous therapist, Rose Lalonde. Rose smiled at Nepeta and she returned the smile. Rose turned around and bumped into her sister, Roxy Lalonde, owner of a very famous bar. She was holding a black cat, and Leon, seeing this new friend, tried to scratch his way out of Nepeta's arms. She let the small cat go and so did Roxy. She came to stand beside Nepeta as the cats ran off.

"Hey Nepeta!" Roxy said. Rose passed by with her dog and nodded to Nepeta. Nepeta bobbed her head in return as Rose left the shop. She hugged Roxy, and Roxy hugged her back.

"Hello, Roxy! I haven't seen you in a while!" Nepeta grinned.

Roxy scrunched up her nose slightly. "That's because you suddenly stopped coming to the café!" She clucked her tongue and pointed at Nepeta. Nepeta giggled.

"I am so sorry, Rox! I have been so busy painting!" Roxy nodded.

"I know, but today I came not only for dear Jaspers, but to ask you something! And it involves painting!" She said. She motioned for Nepeta to follow her to a small table set up in the lawn behind the shop for the pets. They sat down and she spoke again.

"I want you to paint me a picture of the café, as the sun is going down! I need it to be large so I can fit it on the wall above the counter!" Nepeta gasped.

"You really would trust me to do something like that for you?!" Roxy nodded and smiled.

"You can paint some pictures of the scenery around town, too. I want to promote the feeling of relaxation in the café." She took out a picture. "Something like this, maybe?"

The picture showed an orchard, with many trees, bursting with the gentle white of blooming pear blossoms. Nepeta took the picture in her hands. She nodded at Roxy.

"I think I get the general idea, but I won't just be painting orchards, of that's okay with you, heehee!" Roxy giggled.

"Of course I want you to depict more than just orchards! Anything that is calming and pretty to look at is fine!"

After much discussing, they decided that a painting of the interior of the café would suit it best. Roxy stood up and thanked Nepeta. She picked up Jaspers and Nepeta saw her to the door. As soon as Roxy had disappeared around the corner, Nepeta raced inside to tell Jade.

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY! Fanfiction completely just cut off my ending to this! And I'm sorry if its a tad dry, i'll make up for it soon! :3 Thanks so much for reading!**


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